A Sixth Ocean?

Oct 1, 2009

A lifetime is normally too short to see mountains rise, rivers change course, or valleys sink—but after geologists from Addis Ababa University watched crevices part the ground in Central Ethiopia like a zipper, they realized that Mother Nature is quickly building a new ocean, and the Afar Triangle near the Horn of Africa is its construction site.

In recent months, scientists have seen hundreds of these fissures split and sink a 345-square-mile chunk of desert floor across Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti, allowing magma to rise from the Earth's depths and triggering a weeklong series of earthquakes. The smell of sulphur and fumes as hot as 752° F rise from the fissures, some dozens of meters deep and several hundred meters long.

The eruptions have left layers of new basalt lava on the Earth's surface—the exact same kind that spews out of volcanic ridges deep under the ocean, slowly pushing older lava sediments away and forming new seafloor. If the process continues, the nearby Red Sea will flood the area, creating an ocean that will split Africa apart.—Andrew Nusca

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.